


Introspection

by benwisehart



Category: Marvel (House of M), Marvel 616
Genre: Gen, House of M - Freeform, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 13:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11945001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benwisehart/pseuds/benwisehart
Summary: How foolish that she should be the one comforting him. It wasn’t surprising, though. He had always needed her far more than she needed him.





	Introspection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [h311agay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/h311agay/gifts).



> Thank you so much to h311agay for commissioning this work! I had a really great time writing it. I've always loved Pietro.

_They are going to kill her_.

It was a singular thought, straightforward and all-consuming. Little else had crossed his mind since he left for Genosha. To an outside observer, the trip might have taken a matter of seconds, but from Pietro’s perspective it might just as well have been days. He could not get there fast enough, and every moment when that was the case was a moment he was not protecting her. 

Pietro had not gone to that meeting. He didn’t need to; he knew what they were going to say, and he didn’t want to; he wanted to be with Wanda.

Genosha looked the same as it always did; a broken shell of what it once was. Dust kicked up behind him, and Pietro noticed none of it as he made his way to the building where they were keeping his sister. 

Erik was nowhere to be seen when Pietro finally entered Wanda’s room, slowing to a walk as he made his way to where she was sleeping.

Wanda laid on her side, loosely clutching her pillow while she slept peacefully. A brief reprieve from the real world…from what was coming.

Pietro sank to his knees by her side, pressing his forehead to the mattress.

He was angry.

It was so easy to blame the Avengers…for not taking better care of her, for not seeing this sooner, for giving up on her. It was easy, and so he did it. It was easy to blame the Avengers. It was even easier to blame Erik. 

“What are you doing here, Pietro?”

His father’s voice came from somewhere behind him. Pietro straightened up, turning to face him.

“They’re going to kill her,” he said.

“What?” 

“They are going to _kill_ her,” Pietro repeated, his tone harsher. Barely a second later, he was standing before his father. “Xavier, the rest…All the Avengers, all the X-Men. They are meeting right now in New York. They are agreeing to kill her. Why else would they meet?”

Throughout all of it, Erik didn’t move, didn’t respond, and it made Pietro hate him more. “They are going to decide there is no other way, and they are going to come here and kill her,” he continued, each word an accusation. “My sister! Your own daughter!”

It took an eternity for Erik to finally respond. There was something about his tone, something defeated. Broken. 

“Pietro…” he said slowly. “…They may be right.”

_They may be right_.

Pietro scowled, his whole body shaking with anger. He didn’t know why it felt like a betrayal; he had never relied on his father for anything in his life, and yet there he was. Still disappointing him, after all these years.

It should not have been surprising. The Brotherhood, the Avengers…for their entire adult lives, they’d always been a part of something bigger, and after all of that, what did they have to show for it? A team of friends who would turn on Wanda the moment as she was no longer useful, and a father who would stand aside and let them.

It was not surprising. At the end of the day, throughout everything, all Pietro and Wanda Maximoff had ever been able to count on was each other. It hurt, but hurt did not feel as good as rage.

“I swore upon my life to protect her!” Pietro shouted, once he had composed himself enough to enunciate words. “First from you, and now from them? The Avengers were our family and now they’re going to kill her, and—and you agree?”

Erik still didn’t move, and Pietro hated him—god, he _hated_ him. “What would you have me do?” he asked.

“They’re going to _kill_ her!” Pietro repeated, seizing his father by the shoulders as if to start shaking.

Erik responded in turn, clutching Pietro’s arms. “What would you have me _do_?” he shot back.

It was the first time he had raised his voice since he arrived, and something in Pietro broke. Erik lowered his hands. Pietro sank to his knees, trembling, and let out a sob. He did not see how Erik reacted. He did not care. 

When he finally left them alone, Pietro sat up and brushed at his face angrily. He couldn’t afford this right now. He had to get Wanda away from here.

“You shouldn’t yell at him, Pietro,” Wanda murmured, causing him to turn. “He doesn’t respond well.”

“Did you hear?” Pietro asked, feeling guilty for waking her.

“Yes,” Wanda said softly. “My friends are coming.”

Exhaling, Pietro walked back to the bed, sitting down next to her and pulling her into his arms. Wanda tucked her head under his chin, just like when they were children, and for one tiny moment, everything was okay. “Don’t be mad at me,” Wanda said, “but when they do, I’m not going to fight them.”

_That’s what you have me for_ , Pietro thought, but he didn’t say it. She would never allow that. “I’ll take you from here,” he said simply.

“And they’ll follow.”

“No.”

“I will fight them _for_ you. I won’t let them take you from me again. I won’t—I—”

“It’s over,” Wanda said.

“No.”

“It should have ended months ago.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“Am I a coward for not wanting to kill myself?” Wanda asked at last, raising her head. “Even though I know I should?”

Pietro could not look at her.

“It’ll be over soon,” Wanda promised him gently, resting her head on his shoulder. “I can already hear Xavier’s voice in my head. He’s checking on me.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “…I wish I could tell if any of this was real.”

How foolish that she should be the one comforting _him_. It wasn’t surprising, though. He had always needed her far more than she needed him.

“We never had a chance,” Pietro said then. “Magnus chose his ‘mutant race’ over us. We were just little kids, and he abandoned us, and even then, we fought so hard to get out from under it all.”

Wanda had always been the victim. They both had.

“How was it supposed to be?” Wanda asked. 

“We were supposed to be a family.” 

“Yes.” 

“We were supposed to be great heroes.” 

“We were, for a bit.” 

“I liked being an Avenger more than I ever said,” Pietro admitted.

“Me too,” Wanda said. “And look what I did to them. I would do anything to take it back.”

There it was. 

“You could—”

Wanda sensed his tension, sitting up. “What?”

“You could take it back,” he said. “You could make everyone happy.”

Wanda would never willingly fight her friends. She was far too good, far too gentle to see what had to be done, but the others wanted to punish Wanda for their own shortcomings, and they would not stop until they had found her. 

Pietro didn’t care about any of them anymore. The only person who mattered, who had ever mattered, was Wanda, and she would not leave them like this. It was as simple as that. 

“I can’t control it,” she whispered.

“What if I was there to help you?” Pietro asked. “You and I together, Xavier’s mind inside you, your powers as they are now. You can use his powers and yours together.” He started speaking very quickly. “Really—there’s nothing you can’t do. In an instant not only could _we_ have what we deserve, you could give it to our friends as well. Father could be given everything he dreamed of.” He seized Wanda’s hands, holding her tightly. “We can be a family. They’d all be happy. They wouldn’t _bother_ us anymore.”

“Pietro, I can’t—”

Desperation entered Pietro’s voice. “The reason we became Avengers was to try to change things for the better,” he said, pleading. “You _can_ change things. For the better. Permanently, without fighting. Right now. You can make everyone you’ve ever loved happy. Why would you be given all this power if not for this reason? It might be that this is what you’re _supposed_ to do.”

There was fear in Wanda’s eyes, but acceptance too. She understood, and she trusted him. 

“…And if you don’t—Wanda, if you don’t, they’ll kill you. And we’ll never be together ever again.”

Erik, the Avengers, the X-Men, they had all forsaken them. This was the only way to keep her safe.


End file.
